The long series for the Polity P-index, 1800–2016, confirms equivalence. The great majority of traditional systems were based on three pillars: (i) a king from a royal house, (ii) a feudal aristocracy, and (iii) a national Church. The Grand Transition undermines two of these pillars: The Agricultural Transition reduces the agricultural sector dramatically. The Religious Transition substantially reduces religiosity and the economic power of the Church. Without the two pillars, the political system must change, and in addition, development creates a large middle class, which is the main recipient of the large increase in human capital. The consequence is very likely to be democracy. This is the strong but fuzzy relation behind the transition curve. The chapter also analyzes the spells of constant systems and explains why political systems consolidate into status quo equilibria that need triggering events to be broken.

The introduction begins by outlining the study’s motivations, goals, argument, theoretical foundation, and research methods. It then discusses how the scholarship on the IRI’s revolutionary outcome, regime consolidation, and state formation has disproportionately focused on coercion. The introduction explains the book’s main objective of pioneering and contributing to the academic literature on the mobilizational, developmental, and soft power dimensions of the IRI’s revolutionary outcome, regime consolidation, and state formation through the case of RJ. Methodologically, the introduction highlights the semi-structured interviews and archival documents on which the study is based. Thereafter, the introduction delves into the book’s organization and shares with the reader general findings from the project.